Teach your 12 months old baby to sign "toilet" and your life will never be the same. Because signing "toilet" means: out of sling; diapers off; up the stairs; into the bathroom; in front of the mirror; can reach for toothbrushes; can beg for a bath; maybe pee, maybe not. In other words--fun. To be repeated every 120 seconds for about 30 minutes. After which I say, without much conviction: "Okay baby. Remember what diapers are for? Mommy's done exercising."
But two days later there was a pay off. The baby woke up in the middle of the night (and it just had to be the night she slept naked) and signed "toilet" while making her variation of the psssss sound, the verbal cue I make in addition to the sign. "Tch, tch," she said. And I believed her. The bed was saved.
I first heard about EC (elimination communication) or diaper free living when my six year old was a baby. It took me six years to slowly and reluctantly convert. Even then, I declared that EC-ing with a newborn was practically impossible. Yes, many do it, and kudos to them, but I tried for a couple of days, and everything was covered in bright baby poop. I was told that part-time EC-ing was an oxymoron and wouldn't work, but this depends on one's goals. Complete toilet training (I prefer "toilet learning") at an early age is not my goal. I hardly ever have any goals when it comes to parenting. When the baby was about 8 months old, I realised that taking her to pee after her naps was easier than changing her diaper. When she was about 10 months old, I noticed that she started to remain dry overnight. I was still missing her "cues" during the day, but I kept signing to her and taking her to the bathroom in the morning and after her naps.
And here she is--barely 12 months old, and she lets me know when she needs to pee.
She's dry, less laundry for me, Happy Earth Day to all!
I do the same thing with my 21 month old. She has been diaper free (at home) since about 14 months. I never knew it was EC until I came across the term online somewhere. Aren't our children amazing?
ReplyDeleteEarth Day is such a perfect time to be thinking about the environmental footprint of our babies.
ReplyDeleteI love practicing EC with my kids; I have an 8 month old at the moment and practiced from birth with both my boys.
We feel very pleased that we have such a reduced amount of waste going into the environment, especially as babies usually contribute a tonne a year, just in disposables (How astounding)
I actually have such a passion for EC that I write about it most days while helping other families reduce their diaper usee too.
Charndra
Super Ninja--From what I hear parents in Russian also practice "EC" without knowing about the EC hype that we have here, inluding super fancy EC-wear. Babies learn to go potty very early there.
ReplyDeleteCharndra--I found the link in your profile, this is one awesome resource that you have! I love the idea of Part Time EC-ing.